Insight - Biden’s Ukraine response is mired in oil

Energy user: Gasoline tanker trucks driving down a road in El Paso, Texas. Even though the US has become a small net exporter of oil, it still relies on foreign flows. — AFP

WHEN it comes to the Ukraine crisis and energy, we are less in a war of attrition than one of asymptotes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised two breakaway statelets in eastern Ukraine. Not to downplay the importance or drama of this move, but like so many before it, it is another calibrated step toward the edge.